[Clinkscales] helped start the “Vibe” TV show and was a force behind the recent spinoff of Blaze.

In the latest executive shakeup at the Miller Publishing Group, Keith Clinkscales, the president and CEO of the Vibe Ventures subsidiary, resigned unexpectedly.

Clinkscales said he wants to pursue entrepreneurial deals and is close to a deal but he could not disclose specifics.

Miller Publishing CEO Bob Miller said he was “surprised” by the Clinkscales move but was not going to name a replacement.

Clinkscales, 35, had hooked up with Vibe in 1993, when it was still owned by Time Inc. Ventures and Quincy Jones. He had been responsible for developing new ventures and had helped start the “Vibe” TV show, which lasted only a year, and was a force behind the recent spinoff of the controversial hip-hop magazine, Blaze.

Jesse Washington, the former editor of Blaze, was fired in March for trying to hire Montoun Hart, who was an acquitted co-defendant in the case involving the death of Jonathan Levin, son of Time Warner Chairman and CEO Gerald Levin.

Clinkscales insisted the Hart controversy had nothing to do with the decision to leave Vibe after a six-year run.

Miller bought out Time Warner’s stake in the title in 1996 with backing from venture capital firm Freeman Spogli, which is pushing to have a return of 20 percent or more on its investment. Pressure to satisfy investors has forced the company to cut back on new projects, said industry observers.

Clinkscales, who had earlier founded Urban Profiles in the late 1980s, said he wants to go his own route once again.

Len Burnel, associate publisher of Vibe and longtime friend of Clinkscales, is also resigning.